Well here is simple answer. Careful and alluring visualization of data helps you find fortune in your research and project data in a way it was never seen before.

Many data analysts and scientists are finding ways these days to produce astonishingly beautiful figures and release them for open use. These set of information & stats, are no longer be ignored by the fact that they are most often read by researchers than before.

Researchers are in constant search of ways to search not only for data, but also a lot of information that can be compared and presented on a single platform.

Here are some key points keeping in mind might help you winning a noble prize .

#User Participation:

Your data should tell the story to positively engage the users. Users integration and participation is one indispensable step that should never be overlooked.

#Make It Visual:

It is an inherent human tendency to interpret images at a much faster rate than written or explained text. And so, it is always advisable to add more of the pictorial elements to the existing contents.

#Predict The Future:

Users are much more interested in what will happen in the future. Instead of just swinging around the past, projecting future values helps in active consumer engagement.

#Listen What Users Say:

“One of the most sincere forms of respect is actually listening to what another has to say, well said by Bryant H. McGill”. Listening to users needs & answering them helps in closure of an unseen gap set in between the presenter & end users.

#Project Information That Open Doors For Future Intrusion:

Information that ignites a spark for future intrusion is more likely admired by fellow colleagues and provides them a room to discover the new possibilities.

#Data That’ll Solve Dual Purpose:

Data that presents two ends of a successful campaign is preferred much more than the ones sniffing around a specific area only.
Addressing the current issues, how they have evolved during past and then providing answers at least once for these issues, helps in getting an active engagement & comprehension from audiences.

Keeping these simple tips in mind would definitely leave a positive impact on the viewers. And who knows, you might win a Nobel prize for an awesome presentation…

Firstly, for my friends who don’t have a clue about what DATA JOURNALISM is? Well, here’s a possible answer… Data Journalism as the term suggests is simply, DATA + JOURNALISM. In short, everything journalists present with data.

For many years, journalists have been using data as a source to project and put forward the realities which otherwise, would go missing.
Journalists have dealt with major data scarcity issues (in terms of availability of open data) and it was really challenging to present them in an order best interpreted by the reader mainly because of the following reasons:

Lack of proper medium to create intriguing presentations

Scarcity of the medium to deliver the exact message

Not going much deeper to these facts, I present some of the reasons where data journalism can be really helpful & can actually help you to live a better life

STORY TELLING & DATA JOURNALISM

Infographics (Information & graphics) and data visualization are two main pillars of presenting an effective story. In recent years, not only the giant corporations but also SME’s are into the competition to present their reports in the most eye catching ways. Annual reports, financial stats and quarterly reports are read by far more people now than it used to be. A compelling story can be told easily by using infographics in it.

Newspapers have adopted a fine way to present breath taking stories by projecting analytics as the basis of various articles. You can easily find graphs & charts in various reports and most articles.

Recently, the ice bucket challenge has come into light and a lot of data was drawn to express different aspects of the challenge (donation money drawn etc.) Here is a short example wherein it becomes a lot easier to interpret numbers than telling it in stories.

”Data can be the source of data journalism, or it can be the tool with which the story is told — or it can be both. Like any source, it should be treated with scepticism; and like any tool, we should be conscious of how it can shape and restrict the stories that are created with it.” — Paul Bradshaw, Birmingham City University.

ADAPTION TO CHANGES IN INFORMATIVE ENVIRONMENT IS IMPORTANT

“New digital technologies bring new ways of producing and disseminating knowledge in society. Data journalism can be understood as the media’s attempt to adapt and respond to the changes in our information environment — including more interactive, multi-dimensional story-telling, enabling readers to explore the sources underlying the news and encouraging them to participate in the process of creating and evaluating stories.”

— César Viana, University of Goiás

PERCOLATION OF DATA IS NEEDED

Gone those days when data was scarce, when journalists needed information which was not available. Today there is ample of information available, journalists need to filter carefully and find the useful information to present.

Processing is done at two levels:

(1) Analysis to bring sense and structure out of the never-ending flow of data

(2) “Presentation to get what’s important and relevant into the consumer’s head. Like science, data journalism discloses its methods and presents its findings in a way that can be verified by replication” — Philip Meyer, Professor Emeritus, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Data journalism has a close resemblance with photo journalism where story telling is done with images. It differs in the way how data is projected (in forms of graphical representation). More carefully DATA is visualized, more captivating it becomes. But it is even more alluring in facts, the reason being photos does not say it all, figures does!!

DATA JOURNALISM HAS A BRIGHT FUTURE

Data Journalism has a long and bright future. Journalists need to be data- savvy and be able to filter & visualize it actively. As everything gets viral so quickly, Journalists need to be very compassionate!

With my recent passion to learn more about the French history, the country where I’ve been living for half an year now. I had to start reading about the inviolable Nostradamus who is deeply embedded in the roots of the French culture. Reading about his work and visiting his heritage home inspired me to write about him and of course, confront him to my passion for data analysis.

Nostradamus Museum, Salon de Provence, France

While visiting his ancient house (preserved as a museum now), I discovered figures and numbers on the walls, tables and almost everywhere else, depicting the art to handle data manually and obviously without any technologies involved.

Let me jot down the common forecasts we analyze with Big data which might be an example to see if we are behind time or Nostradamus was way ahead centuries ago:

#Climate change

Early predictions by Nostradamus which later, were recognized as Zodiac signs

Nostradamus: A lot of Nostradamus’s predictions were exact before centuries. He predicted a number of gradual climate changes that will occur and affect the earth. He also mentioned green house effect in his early prophecies and their adverse effects on environment.

21st Century: Scientists do almost exact weather forecasts today. The simulations produced are available from a broader range of models. Taken together with additional information from observations, these provide a quantitative basis for estimating likelihoods for many aspects of future climate change. Model simulations cover a range of possible futures including idealized emission or concentration assumptions.
The concept of green house gases is a World known fact now, and many major consequences of global warming are well documented. This has been already documented in some of Nostradamus’s prophecies as a reason for more droughts and floods in coming future.

#Zodiac signs

Nostradamus: Centuries ago, zodiac signs were discovered and practiced by Nostradamus, by looking at the position of different stars in the solar system.

21 Century: Scientists and researchers have scientific explanations now behind the concept of zodiac signs, that are based on Motion Of Celestial Bodies. These concepts are well elucidated by physicists.

#Diseases

#Nostradamus: During the deadly outbreaks of plague disease, when million of people lost their lives looking for a cure,Nostradamus was the most famous doctor during black death years. He recommended his patients to drink only boiled water, to sleep in clean beds and to leave infected towns as soon as it was possible. It was him, who saved lives of countless people by explaining them basic hygiene tips and prophylactic measures.

21 Century: Scientists identified different strains of diseases, can anticipate their virulence, developed treatments and eradicated totally or partially specific diseases from the planet (Rinderpest). Many antibiotics have been introduced since centuries now along with the thorough understanding and knowledge of the disease.

Careful study of data drawn about disease’s geographical distribution pattern have helped scientists to trace contacts & take necessary control measures for households located in high risk areas, strengthening of disease surveillance and case management, and sensitization of the affected population.

# He also gave clues about the consequences of attacks on environment (which were interpreted as nuclear attacks by many authors) as “the sky will boil at 45°”. While looking at the facts, I found an interesting research work stating the global temperatures plunges upto 20°C to 40°C for several months after a nuclear attack, which matches nearly as documented by him.

Nostradamus’s extraordinary and crucial contributions to the world are beyond words can explain. But a question still arises, will Big data replace Nostradamus for the upcoming centuries?

In all cases, hundreds of Nostradamus’s prophecies about sudden tragedies and natural calamities are beyond the level of calculations, no matter how much technological advancements can predict!